IT has been 10 years since President Clinton and a Republican Congress worked together on a welfare reform package, and the results are encouraging.

Since the measures were implemented, the number of people on welfare has dropped 60 percent, down to 4.4 million.

When the law was passed, there was concern it would set adrift those who had been collecting benefits, boosting the number of homeless and hopeless. But statistics haven’t borne out those dire predictions, and instead we have a system that aims to help those truly in need, as it was intended to do, not breed dependency.

Although improved, the system is still by no means perfect, and the success with the welfare system doesn’t mean we can declare any victories against poverty.

Now that these people are off the welfare rolls and many have been put back to work, it highlights the importance of a hike in the minimum wage. Though these low-income workers may be off welfare, they still might be collecting government assistance of a different variety, such as food stamps.

Once again, a bipartisan initiative may be one small step toward a solution. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Democratic legislature have agreed to boost the minimum wage. The bill sits on his desk and he has agreed to sign it. Although no one is in any danger of becoming wealthy at the proposed $8 per hour, inching closer to a living wage may be a way to get more people off the government dole.

Neither the welfare overhaul nor increasing the minimum wage are solutions to poverty, but as our society continues to wrestle with that age-old problem, getting people back to work is a good start.

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